Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 58 Comments

Elephant in the room

Don’t get many of these around here. It’s a FORD. It’s about the only time my car gets a wash….

You can see the houses still have sandbags up against the front doors. These days this lovely village sadly suffers from floods way more frequently.

Parked up in a traffic queue waiting to cross a storm damaged bridge, I unfortunately got to listen to the NEWS. MOST Unfortunate as it involved listening to the Government Education Minister trying to explain why more and more pupils are not attending school. Record numbers. Apparently it’s down to a number of factors,

Bad parenting

Immigration

Really bad parenting

Not enough discipline

Truly awful parenting

Benefits culture

Liberal politics

Moral standards

Monumentally bad parenting

Not enough Parents being fined for letting the Country down. Well over a quarter of a million parent fines just isn’t enough….

I guess I am one of THOSE parents the system has a problem with. Well as ONE of those parents I was surprised that the School System and Government Education Policy wasn’t mentioned. No mention of school budget cuts. No mention of the complete collapse in Special Education Provision and Support. No mention of NHS Mental Health Services struggling to cope with the huge numbers of young people crying out for help. No mention of rising class sizes and overcrowded, unhealthy classrooms. No mention of crumbling school infrastructure. No mention of rising teacher workload and stagnant pay. No mention of increasing Government control of what is taught, how it’s taught, how it’s assessed. No mention of the fanatical focus on exam results and discipline. No mention of the drive towards Victorian Education Standards.

That’s a large ELEPHANT in the ROOM.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 15 Comments

Irony

A small nature reserve on the edge of the nearest city.

Been coming here for over 20 years and I’ve never seen it this wet.

The small pond has suddenly decided to grow, there is supposed to be a wooden viewing platform there. In fact the now super pond has completely submerged the path on the far side. No circular nature walk now.

Flooded pond

Impromptu streams forming all over the site.

The irony, just a few months back Yorkshire was officially under drought restrictions…..

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 49 Comments

Bit wet

Our nearest city’s flood defences are being tested this winter.

There is usually a path here…. Initially I thought there was also an alligator waiting for hardy souls still committed to using the path. I didn’t risk it even though my online phone map was trying to send me down it. In this case I definitely ignored the naviGATOR.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 46 Comments

Peter Pan

Netherlands inspired Christmas at the local Country House. Maybe next year we can try a slightly downscaled version in our little bungalow.

Still the Country House is a good place to come when our village power is off, AGAIN. You don’t apparently get supply problems in Netherlands….

I was reminded that we haven’t been inside this place since our world changed back in 2016. We would come here often, then life abruptly changed course and our smaller family stopped coming. That’s been a common theme.

It’s been a while since I read Peter Pan. From what I can remember it’s about the inevitability of growing up and plans suddenly changing. Life happens. Too often losing our sense of adventure and missing opportunities. Losing confidence to LIVE and FLY. BUT IT DOESN’T have to be this way.

Need to remember this….

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 36 Comments

Lights

Trying new stuff is always a good idea. Well kind of. For Hawklad new stuff has to be carefully mapped out, introduced slowly. If you get that right then it is a good idea.

This time it was me that got caught out by NEW.

A trip to see some Christmas lights at Doncaster. Really enjoyable if not exactly very festive at times. A little more Lion King and Star Trek than Santa. But still good and Hawklad enjoyed it as long as we kept our distance from the crowds.

You can see the issue I would have later…l
At last a Festive feel….

So all great until I was dragged on this torture device.

I am petrified of heights, yes I admit it, that rather held back my climbing career….. Even a couple of rungs on a ladder is an issue for me.

This is way too high and most certainly not part of the carefully mapped out plans. Camera focusing is not easy with my eyes firmly shut….

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DNA

The rainwater is building in the fields.

Usually a favourite pit stop area for the mad pup but strangely not today.

On the path, a once clean golden retriever was proudly showing off its new caked mud look while it’s owner muttered something about her pride and joy encountering a garden hosepipe real soon….

A garden hosepipe option that isn’t available to our 84 month old puppy due to to some of his very own premeditated, over zealous chewing. Definitely lots of chewing DNA in our pet, way more than in me I guess.

I should ask my sister about that.

A few days back she phoned me to excitedly tell me about her DNA heritage results test. I’ve always thought about checking mine out to see where I kinda came from apart from Yorkshire. Well unless my sister has some dodgy results or if my parents didn’t tell me about some really important stuff, THEN I now have clarity. On this walk I pondered a shocking fact…. I’m not as Yorkshire as I assumed. My DNA appears to be only 50% English. Further my sister has been doing some family history digging as well and it looks like there is a lot of Lancashire in me. On NO Yorkshire’s biggest rivals, WE’VE had wars with them…. If people find out, I might lose my Yorkshire Passport and Rhubard Privileges.

Apparently I’m also 30% Welsh (why can’t I sing then….), 12% Scottish and 8% Scandinavian. Viking DNA is not unexpected as they did invade this part of the world. I might look quite fetching stood in a longboat dressed as a Nordic Warrior. In my dreams 😂😂😂😂😂

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 43 Comments

Light Show

My phone camera really doesn’t like the dark…. It tries its best…..Sorry no glossy, professional photos here 😂😂😂😂 Being in focus is much overrated, that’s what I tell myself each day when I unfortunately see Shrek looking back at me in the mirror.

Unexpected bonfire night sky show, just when you think it’s been a quiet fireworks night. Especially as the public shows near us we’re cancelled due to flooding.

But if you give it a chance, if you look up ……. life, nature, all around us can be truly breathtaking.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 44 Comments

Pre storming

As the next storm is about to wing across the UK. We took a pre storm trip to the coast.

Yes we we got drenched, yes it was cold.

Hawklad loves this kind of bad weather trip…. he basically gets the place to himself. Space is a wonderful safety blanket.

Plus no one gets to see his hair, WOW was that a blinding cut from Muppet Dad. Actually it looks like I was blinded while doing it.